ATHLETE OF THE WEEK EXTRA: More with Lakeland standout Madison Harding

Senior hurdling standout Madison Harding had a meet to remember at the Robert Spagna Championships, winning three events and helping her 1600-meter relay team finish third.

Does this give you confidence going into the district meet? We’re on Cloud Nine after the Spagna and we competed with bigger schools (Class 3A) so everyone is thinking if they can win against Triple-A kids, I can win against Double A.

Who’s been most influential person on your athletic career? My (grandfather) Papa Joe. He passed away when I was in seventh grade, but between my brother (Tony) and I, he literally went to everything with us. When we played AAU basketball, he traveled with us everywhere we went. He used to sit at our practices. He was the only one sitting there practices. He got to see me run track one time, when I ran the Junior Olympics.

What’s the coolest thing that’s happened to you in your varsity career? My sophomore year, Cassidy Jenkins, Brooke Estadt, Corah Krantz and myself, we won four golds at the Jordan Relays in four events.

What’s the best lesson you’ve ever learned through sports? That it goes by really quick so it’s important that you are having fun. You should remember everything you do, have fun, make memories.

What are your hopes for the rest of the season for you as an individual, and your team? Our team is hoping to win districts and as an individual, number one is to go sub-15 seconds in the 100 hurdles, and also to qualify for states again in both the 100 and 300 hurdles.

One athlete on another team you wish could be a teammate. Probably Abby Corrigan from Holy Cross. She’s a very encouraging person. She’s a good friend of mine, a hard worker and a very good distance runner.

What’s the biggest improvement you’ve seen in any other athlete on the track team from last year to this year? A freshman, Haley Hunsinger, she stepped up this year. She was nervous and wanted to be on junior high one more year, but she stepped up big for us and got us some points in the 800 this year. She’s also always open to running on different relay teams or wherever they need her. I think she also ran the mile once this year.

After high school, what are your plans, and how does track figure into those plans? I am gong to Lehigh University to major in behavioral neuroscience and I’m also running track.